Columns

The Joy of Writing Longhand

August 8th, 2014

Nowadays, we do everything on our computers and phones, from ordering food and dating to scheduling meetings and catching up with friends and family. There is truly an app for everything, and it’s making our lives ridiculously simple and instant. It only makes sense that we also use our various devices to write. After all, we need our stories to be printed, emailed, submitted here and there, so why not keep them all in the same place?

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Should You Be Reading Archie Comics?

August 7th, 2014

Archie comics were never COMICS, comics to me. There was a significant lack of super powers. The characters spent very little time foiling schemes that could be described as "maniacal," "dastardly," or even good, old-fashioned "evil." I don't know that I ever saw Archie comics anywhere BUT the checkout aisle at the grocery store.

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Writing Lessons from the Dead: Elmore Leonard

August 7th, 2014

Image via thesuperslice I cried the day Elmore Leonard died. And I wasn’t the only one. Leonard was perhaps the greatest crime fiction writer of all time, and even in his later years, he was still kicking out amazing work. He was one of my biggest inspirations as a writer, one of the first real authors to hook me as a kid. I have yet to read another writer who’s mastered the art of dialogue as well as Elmore.

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Showrunners: The Authors of TV Land

August 6th, 2014

Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston, courtesy of Variety.com If you've studied film at all, you know about auteur theory. For the uninitiated, the concept originated in the pages of Cahiers du cinéma—a publication founded in 1951 by members of the French New Wave filmmaking movement, one of the first magazines dedicated to film criticism.

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Path to Publication 3.0: I Have A Book Deal Again!

August 5th, 2014

After being dropped by my first publisher, I've found a new home—my debut novel, New Yorked, will be published by Polis Books in June 2015. Once again, I will attempt to chronicle my path to publication... As faithful readers of the previous incarnation of this column might know, June was a real kick in the teeth.

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The Perils of Reading in Public

August 5th, 2014

It’s a risky endeavor to take a book out of the house. Finding a quiet moment in bed is relatively easy, and the couch is always happy to oblige a book binge, but the outside world is a tough and unforgiving place for readers. The logic behind trying to read in public is obvious. Potentially calm moments abound: long plane rides, even longer little league games, visits to the beach, waiting in the car during a shopping trip. Even the simple desire to get some sun with a minimum of physical exertion is a perfectly valid reason to grab a book and a picnic blanket.

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Better With Age: Giving Elderly Characters the Spotlight

August 4th, 2014

Every living person on the planet has experienced something of childhood, but the same can’t be said for old age. It’s an acquired condition, and a privilege (or a curse) that only those who have passed through many seasons of victories and hardships can claim. 

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LitReactor Community Spotlight: July 2014

August 4th, 2014

So raise your hand if you're tuckered out from all the reading this month. It's okay if you don't want to, because circus music has been coming from inside my walls all night, and that's a more pressing concern for me at the moment.

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Listen Up, Nerds! 5 Lessons from 30 Rock on How to Make Your Characters Down with the In-Crowd

July 31st, 2014

I'm not a creative type like you, with your work sneakers and your left-handedness.                                                                                  

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UPDATED WITH WINNER - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: July Edition

July 31st, 2014

Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity. Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. How It Works We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or similar. You write a flash fiction piece using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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